The Loneliest Orphan
by DURADO'96
Summary: Little orphan Annie got nothing on Sabrina Grimm. The true trails and tribulations of life as an inner city orphan soon consume Sabrina, as she's dragged back into the system. What a life to be...
1. A Caseworker

**EDIT- So for everybody that's mad that I'm not sticking by the book necessarily, a PSA: Yall need to chiiilll lmao. This is a fanfiction, which means I'm not the actual author, right? Correct. I am using my creative license to the fullest extent which means that: Sabrina, and every character will be OOC, Sabrina and Daphne are half Hispanic, some details of the original story will be changed, and yes again SaBrInA Is OoC. Yall are on a website where the whole point is to take a story and put your own spin on it to create a new story, and I think yall know that. If you have something against how I write this then DON'T READ IT, and it's only gonna get worse, so I don't want to hear another complaint, got that?**

**Hey y'all so real quick two things: 1. I have it in my head that Veronica is Latina, and her and her kids speak ****Spanish**** fluently, 2. Fair warning about a couple of things, there will be mature themes and strong language as the story ****progresses**** so be wary. That's all I got for now, see you on the other side.**

Sabrina awoke from a loud knocking at the door. She turned in bed to look at her alarm clock; it was barely nine in the morning, and on a Sunday for Christ's sake. Still the knocking persisted. Clearly whoever it was didn't have enough humanity to let the house rest after the first one. Sabrina pushed herself out of bed and down stairs to the front door. She had given up hope of anyone else in her family answering the door, like always.

On the porch of the Grimm's still lemon yellow gingerbread house, stood a petite, strawberry blonde woman that looked to be in her thirties. She was wearing a navy blue pant-suit, and carried a brown leather briefcase in one hand.

"Did you know that in Ferryport Landing it's a crime to knock on someone's door before ten o'clock?" Sabrina said to the woman, hoping she'd scare her off. The woman ignored the question and instead asked, "May I speak to Relda Grimm?"

"Why do you want to speak to my Granny?" Sabrina eyed the woman suspiciously.

"I'm from the New York City child welfare agency. Now I need to talk with an adult, please." The woman curtly replied. Sabrina's belly did a flip flop as she realized what the woman was there for. As she was about to close the door in the woman's face Granny Relda came down the stairs.

"Oh my, who is at the door, liebling?" The old woman said in her German accent. Sabrina was frantically thinking of a way to get rid of the case worker, but the woman had already stepped through the doorway and stretched out her hand to shake. Granny didn't take it.

"My name is Isabelle Colette, from the New York City child welfare office. You must be Relda." She said as she let her had drop to her side. Granny's lips pursed into a thin line.

"Why yes, come in, I assume you're here to talk about the girls?" Granny motioned for them to follow her into the dinning room. Sabrina had hoped they had gotten rid of child protective services with Ms. Smirt. She could understand why they had sent a new caseworker, though. The girls had been under the radar all throughout the war, she wouldn't be surprised if the state had thought they were dead. Everything had just gotten so crazy with the war that just ended only two months ago. Even though the school was one of the first things built, Sabrina still was doing poorly in classes and even had started to skip them. She just didn't see the point in going anymore, they weren't learning anything in 7th grade that was useful. In her opinion at least.

The three sat down at the table and Ms. Colette began to take out some paperwork from her briefcase. The Grimm women exchanged nervous looks. It didn't take a genius to realize that she was planning on taking the girls. Sabrina also knew that it was too soon after her parents waking up, so they couldn't gain custody of the girls either. Sabrina just knew she'd need another escape plan.

"It has been brought to the states attention that _one_ of the girls has not been functioning well under your care, Ms. Grimm." The woman quipped as she shuffled one the papers up to the front. It was Sabrina's case file. Sabrina had a sinking feeling; _just one girl_, meant that this time she'd be on her own.

Sabrina wondered why the woman only taking her. It had always been a package deal. "Why isn't my little sister being taken too?" Sabrina interjected. The case worker peered over at her. "Daphne Grimm? She has no reason to be taken from Ms. Grimm's custody. She has performed exceptionally in school, and is not a delinquent unlike you." It was either both Grimm girls or none. Why is it different this time? The thought of being separated from Daphne hatched a deep seated anxiety within her. Did these people specialize in tearing families apart?

"Ms. Grimm you do know that it is a federal crime to not relinquish a ward of the state when it is deemed they are no longer fit for your guidenceship. I am aware of the girls, and _your_ record of aversion of authority. Upon that statement I have brought some NYPD officers with me on this occasion, just to make sure nothing _unwarranted _may happen." The woman stared coldly at Granny Relda. Sabrina's heart plummeted to her feet; all her plans to run the caseworker off fizzled out. This time, Sabrina knew she had to go with the nasty woman. She couldn't put her family in danger over some stupid custody case. Sabrina still got up and returned to the living room to peer out the window, and sure enough there was an SUV with the letters NYPD painted on the doors. She gulped and went back into the dinning room.

Granny looked nervously at Sabrina. Ms. Colette cleared her throat: "If you aren't aware your granddaughter, Sabrina Grimm, has been showing for quite a while that she is not doing well under your supervision. She rarely goes to school and when she does she receives poor grades. She has already been suspended twice and there has been even more threats of suing. Ms. Grimm do you see why the state is taking custody of her again?"

Relda cast her eyes down, and twiddled her thumbs, "Sabrina has just been going through a rough patch recently." Sabrina didn't even know what to say to the case worker herself; she didn't think it mattered anyway. "Ms. Grimm my point is Sabrina Grimm, as of now is no longer eligible to be your foster child and is going to be taken back to the Child Welfare center in New York City." The woman scribbled a few things on what looked to be a release document. Granny looked horrified: "You can't just take her away, She is my Granddaughter, and her parents are here as well."

Sabrina's breaths started to shallow and cold sweat collected at the base of her neck. They couldn't take her away from her family. She couldn't leave Daphne alone. She had just got her parents back, they couldn't take her now. As she was about to enter into hysteria, Henry came into the room.

"What's going on?" Henry said looking from Ms. Colette to his mother then finally to Sabrina, his daughter. Sabrina was sure the whole ordeal looked rather peculiar, with her miniature freak out and Granny's worried eye's meeting the cold green ones of the case worker's. The pant-suit clad woman moved her icy gaze to poor Henry. "Who are you?" she responded.

"I'm Henry Grimm, and you didn't answer my question."

"Ah, you must be the girl's 'parent'." Her eyes flicked between Sabrina and Henry. Clearly skeptical.

"What do you want with my daughter?"

"Her Grandmother has lost custody over her due to her negligence, so now she is a ward of the state. If you wish to gain custody over her yourselves, you must take it up in court, but this is not a matter of if or if not she is coming with us. I have the New York City police department waiting outside if you choose to not comply with the law." Henry looked shocked, like someone had just told him the most absurd thing in the world.

"Listen here, you'll not be taking either of my daughters. You're going to get back in whatever you got here in and then drive back to New York City and tell all the bozo's at your stupid 'Child Welfare' office to back off. The girls have parents that can take care of them just fine." He said through gritted teeth as he shook his fist at her.

As much as Sabrina wish a threat like that would work this time, she knew it wouldn't. The lady had a small police force behind her, and even if the family somehow drove them away, they could never get away from it legally. She didn't want her Granny or Father or Mother to get potential jail time. She knew I'd just be easier to go along with them and with her parents back they could file for custody over her. Her resolve solidified, she would go with the evil woman, her parents would get custody over her, and they would all live happily ever after. She stopped her freak out, this would all be over soon, it was all just part of the process.

"Dad." She said in an effort to get his attention. He ignored her and continued to argue with the caseworker. "Dad," she yelled, this time getting his attention, "look we don't have much of a choice. If we fight then that's jail time for you and me and Daphne might be put back in the system indefinitely, but if I go then no one goes to jail and Daphne doesn't have to be put back in the system either. In the meantime you and Mom can work to win custody over me and then we can all be back together and that way they'll never bother us again. Capeesh?" Sabrina said firmly. Henry shook his head.

"Sabrina I… I just can't let them take you again. What if they send you to another terrible home? What if this time you don't come back? I can't lose you again." He raked his hand through his hair.

"Dad I will make sure none of that happens. I promise you I will come back. I just need you to work on the whole legal part, and I'll work on the staying out of trouble part."

"But you'll be all alone, not even Daphne's going to be with you."

"Believe me, I can handle myself. This'll all be over in a matter of weeks I'm telling you. I'm going to go up stairs and get my things, could you guys tell everyone what's happening?" She turned and headed up the stairs before anyone could say anything else. Her room was the furthest down on the left. When the house had been rebuilt a few extra rooms had been constructed making enough room for each of the ten people who lived there a room for themselves and a few guest ones as well. The corridor was now measurbly longer, as one might imagine.

First, Sabrina knew she needed to change out of her pj's and into something warm since it being mid December. Then she started to pack, and decided to travel light this time around and pulled out the tiny suitcase that she had first brought to her grandmother's home over a year ago. She threw clothes, a few toiletries and finally her lock-picking kit and a pocket knife to boot in and slammed it shut. The orphanage was not like the one you'd seen in _Annie_. It was not a nice place, it was a place reduced to survival of the fittest. She held the cas, a cool tingle ran down her spine. She had a bad feeling about this, a really bad feeling.


	2. Premonitions

**Very short chapter, yes I know. Don't own The Sisters Grimm blah blah blah. I realize my last AN is more applicable in this chapter, you'll get to see Sabrina and veronica speak some Spanish. Now, enjoy.**

She carried the suitcase out into the hall and propped it next to her sisters bedroom door. She slowly entered the room, Daphne was sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "Wass goinon?" The little girl grumbled. Sabrina slowly sat on the side of her bed and, stared silently at the ceiling trying to think of what to say. "Sabrina? You're kinda freaking me out." Daphne said, now wide awake.

"I'm leaving Daphne." Sabrina could feel a lump rise in her throat. She wasn't going to cry, she'd see Daphne again. It'd be like she never left. She wasn't losing Daphne so there was no point in crying. She steeled herself and pushed on, "CPS came and are taking me back to the orphanage. Something about me doing poorly in school. I won't be gone long, so don't worry about me. I know you can do just fine on your own." She looked over at the brunette, the girls eyes were as big as saucers.

"Why didn't you say they were taking us?" Her sister said slowly, even though she already knew the answer.

"Because they're not. They're only taking me." Sabrina answered.

"But why? They can't take you. You can't leave me." The little girl cried as she tightly wrapped Sabrina up in her arms.

Sabrina's voice softened, as she hugged her sister, "I already said I wouldn't be gone long. Trust me it'll feel like I never left. You just need to bare with me while mom and dad figure out all this legal mumbo jumbo, okay?" The little girl took deep breaths then pulled away.

"You promise to be back as soon as you can. I can't lose you." Her lip quivered as she finished the sentence. Daphne held out her pinky, and Sabrina took it. "I promise." She confided. If Sabrina had know what was coming she would have never made that promise.

The blonde got up and took her sisters hand, together they walked down stairs. They were met with a dozen pairs of eyes, with a range of emotion. The rest of the residents of the Grimm household as well as the case worker accompanied by two police officers. Two pairs of eyes were red from crying which belonged to Veronica and Relda Grimm. There were loud shouts from Henry and Mr. Canis. A cowering Red in the corner, a curious Pinocchio looking at the spectacle and lastly Puck, who was laughing at the whole ordeal.

Sabrina Placed two fingers in her mouth and blew an ear-shattering whistle, courtesy of Granny Relda who had taught her it. All twelve pairs of eyes were now on her: "Listen everyone I'll be leaving for a bit, but this-" she motioned to the sitcom in front of her, "-is not necessary. I'm going with Ms. Colette and no one is getting arrested today." She stated as she crossed the room to her mother and father.

"Sabrina…" Veronica trailed off as she hugged her.

"No te preocupes por mí. Estaré bien." Sabrina responded.

(Don't worry about me. I'll be fine.)

"Si, yo sé. Te quiero pase lo que pase." Veronica whispered as she kissed Sabrina's head.

(Yes, I know. I will always love you.)

She broke away from her mother, "Yo te quiero también." She said as she went on to hug her father.

(I love you too.)

"Brina, you don't-" he started as he embraced her.

"Yes I do, I'll see you soon, Dad. I love you." She stepped over to Granny.

"I'll miss you, liebling." She said wiping her eyes." Sabrina wrapped her arms around the old woman. "I'll miss you, too. I love you granny." She then gave Canis, Red and even pinocchio a hug. Lastly came Puck, who had his usual cocky smile strung up on his face.

"Bye stinker. See you in a while." Sabrina said smiling, he had a way of making her feel alright.

"Oh boy, am I planning a prank to last a lifetime for your welcome home party." He rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"I'll be waiting with baited breath." She said saluting him, but before walking to the door she leaned in close to him, "Take care of Daphne while I'm gone." He nodded his response, and finally she was on her way.

The police officers had gotten back in their squad cars, and Ms. Colette was waiting on the porch tapping her foot impatiently. The last glimpse she got of her family was of sorrowful gazes and of course Puck's smirk, before the door closed.


	3. Hamilton Heights Orphanage

**As Dj Khaled said, "Another one." ~Dj Khaled. Still ain't got the keys tho.**

"We'll be taking the squad car back to the city." Ms. Colette said as she walked to the SUV. Sabrina followed trying to suppress her overwhelming sense to run as fast and as far as she could away from the woman. She forced her legs to walk around the car, then forced her arms to open the back door.

She climbed into the seat and immediately felt a sense of claustrophobia. The partition was a wire grate, there weren't handles on the inside of the doors, and the realization of all that just happened had hit her like a MMA smackdown.

It felt like ice water was slowly being poured into her body; her chest was as heavy as lead. Her breaths drew shallow as she tried to get enough air into her lungs under the weight. Daphne, her parents, her family, they were already minutes behind her. An emotion she knew all too well had an iron grip on her again, helplessness. She hadn't been without her sister for more than a couple days, her intuition was telling it was going to be a whole lot longer than a couple days till she saw Daphne. God, why had she gone along with this?

Sabrina pushed those feeling to the corner of her mind. Why should she feel helpless? She had won a war. She had fought monsters four times her size. She had escaped from dozens of foster homes before, she could do it again, even if she was alone.

She willed herself to put her sneaky cap on and access her surroundings. This was a one way ticket to the orphanage, that's for sure. She could watch Ms. Colette to see if she had any pet peeves or odd obsessions Sabrina could use against her.

The blonde could feel a small smirk coming on. She got this, she'd be back home in no time at all, at least she hoped.

"Ms. Colette, or could I call you Isabelle?"

"It's Ms. Colette to you."

"Isabelle it is then. Y'know Isabelle is a beautiful name, a shame you have it."

"Sabrina, an ugly name for a brat of a girl." The caseworker sneered.

"Did it not say in the job description 'working with children'?"

"It didn't say 'working with little brats'."

"Hey lady it's not my fault you fooled yourself into think all kids are little bundles of sunshine."

"It's your chose to be as rude as you are."

"That goes both ways, Colette." The two sat glaring at each other.

The rest of the two hour ride went about the same way. Sabrina dragged her attention from insulting Ms. Colette to New York City. They had entered on I-95 through East Bronx, and had already hit lunchtime traffic. She sighed knowing full and well that it was going to be at least an hour before they reached the orphanage.

Sabrina looked back at Ms. Colette who was still fuming from their two hour long insult-a-thon. She snorted, that sounded like a word Daphne would have made up. Daphne, her anxieties came back with a vengeance, twisting her stomach into knots a million times over again.

As cement skyscrapers passed at a crawl, she couldn't stop herself from worrying. She'd never been in the city alone, and to be frank it was scary. She was only twelve, and the reason she hadn't ended up goblin grub or a troll treat or flattened by a giant was because there had always been someone there for her: her sister, Puck, Granny, Uncle Jake even Canis.

Now, though, she was all alone, sure she knew a little Kung Fu, but was that really enough? She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window. All she knew for sure was that she would not die, and that she was going to get back to her family, to her home.

The cop driving slammed on the brakes causing Sabrina's head to jerk forward giving her a minor case of whiplash. A crescendo of honks followed, accompanied by curses. You'd think people would have the sense to not honk at a police car. _New York, capitol of road rage_, Sabrina thought rolling her eyes.

The reason for the sudden stop, she found out, was because a rabbit had hopped out into the middle of the road. _Rabbit?_ _Why's there a rabbit here?_ She looked off to the side of the street, and saw a familiar sight. The Howard Bennett park, which meant they almost to the orphanage.

The orphanage was in one of the poorest sectors in Manhattan, Harlem. Under funded and in dire need of a renovation the place more closely resembled a prison rather than a place for parent-less children. An analogy for how this country views minors? No one may ever know.

She frowned as the squad car pulled up to the curb of _Hamilton Heights Orphanage_. The remnants of a time where the social services were well funded came in the form of peeling, faded blue and yellow paints from the once colorful building. The police got out, rounded the car, then open her door.

She swung her feet out onto the sidewalk. Boy, did she need a good stretch and a visit to the restroom. They did not stop a single time on that whole trip, does that Ford really have that good of gas mileage?

"Alright, Sabrina go inside and freshen up. We've found a family that wants to foster you." Ms. Colette said as she walked up the concrete stairs of the orphanage.

"Wait, you've already found a foster home for me? Where, how?" She said chasing after the blonde woman. She pushed through the old wood doors; which Colette didn't bother to hold open.

_Jeez, this place looks worse off than the last time I was here_, Sabrina thought. It had been a little less than a year since she'd been here, yet it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in twice that time. The waiting area was composed of mismatched chairs from salvation army, even the wood on the front desk was molding. Ms. Colette had disappeared into the faculty wing where all of the caseworker offices were.

Sabrina gave up trying to get answers from the woman. She dragged her little suitcase down the corridor to the left that led to a flight of stairs that stretched up the six stories of the building. The base floor was crowed with case worker, counseling and faculty offices. The second was for the cafeteria. The third was a daycare. Finally the boys, girls, and faculty dorms took up the last three floors. In that order, which meant Sabrina had to walk up five flights of stairs to get to the dorms.

By the time she reached the long hallway that led to several different dorm rooms as well as the restrooms, she was sweating. _Man, that's a little pathetic,_ she thought while taking deep breathes. Sabrina headed straight for the last door on the right, which was where she always stayed when she was in this wrenched place. Seeing as there were free beds she slipped into the room, and she walked down the aisle made by the cots that lined either wall. She decided to sit down on one towards the back close to the only window in the room which had a beautiful view of the brick wall of the building next to them. The cots themselves were bare-thread and mildew covered, and coupled with the scratchy moth eaten blankets made sleeping quite the _relaxing_ experience.

Sabrina frowned as she went over what she had brought with her. She had brought some things that did have value, which in turn meant that they would likely be stole if she didn't find a place to hide them. Well, either that or keep her suitcase with her at all times. She sighed, she might as well leave it here. Everyone was at lunch anyways.

Sabrina's stomach grumbled, _speaking of_, she rolled her eyes; she didn't have a chance to eat this morning, because of that blasted case worker. Her nose scrunched just thinking about the cafeteria food. She got up anyways. She needed to eat too bad to be picky right now. Sabrina walked all the way back down to the second floor, grumbling harmoniously with her stomach all the way.

She pushed open one of the doors and was immediately swallowed by chatter, laughing and shouting. Upon first look she saw a group of kids shooting dice* in the corner, a fight was happening in the back, but most kids were messing around with their friends at their own designated tables. See there was a hierarchy which had the older kids at the top and little kids at the bottom. It was a lot like a regular school except it wasn't a school and there was no real security and all the kids lived there and housekeeping was nearly non-existent.

Ignoring this all, Sabrina went straight to the lunch line. Grabbing one of the bright blue, scratched plastic trays as she shuffled down the bar. She didn't know any of the kids in the line, _I mean not that I was real buddy buddy with a lot of kids here it'd just be nice to see someone I know, _was i just her or did the room just get a whole lot bigger? There was a new lunch lady; She was an old hag of a woman that closely resembled a snapping turtle with lose neck skin, thin lips and a beached nose.

The lady slapped down on her tray what looked like mashed potatoes, then gravy, finally very pale, very gray turkey. Sabrina fought the urge to gag, "Thank you." She said trying not to breathe in the noxious fumes. The lunch lady only replied with a grunt and a jerk of her head signaling Sabrina to move along.

She took her plate and turned to find a place to sit. She scanned the room once more; she saw a table with only two other girls sitting at it. She walked over to it: "Hey, could I sit here?" The two girls looked up at her, "Sure." One said, she had black hair and black eyes. _She must be Latina, like me._ Sabrina thought as she sat down.

The girls went back to talking to each other in Spanish, only cementing her suspicion. She made pretty awkward eye contact with the other girl, she had curly black hair and deep brown skin. Sabrina quickly looked down at her food. Taking small bites, so maybe she wouldn't throw up, she ate the meal.

She had eaten most of what was on her tray when Ms. Colette walked up to her: "Sabrina, get your things you have a train to catch." The case worker dragged her up by her elbow and towards the stairs.

"Let go. I can walk on my own." Sabrina demanded as she yanked her arm away. The woman glared daggers at her.

"Meet me in the front lobby in five minutes." Sabrina didn't respond only walked up the sitars and to the last dorm room. She hefted the little, but heavy suitcase up and turned to go back down the five flights of stairs.

When she got to the waiting room she saw Ms. Colette standing with, _no it couldn't be._

"Sabrina this is James. James, Sabrina." The caseworker introduced him. Sabrina was dumbfounded, she had know him since the first day she ever set foot in the orphanage.

"Long time no see, Blondie." He said, seeming to recognize her as well.

"Well if it isn't Jay, Hamilton Heights finest." She said, smirking. Everyone called him Jay, or _The dumbest genius you'll ever meet. _The kid was stupid smart, but couldn't make a good decision for the life of him. Daphne had always loved the kid, he was like a big brother to her. Come to think of it Puck was a lot like him, if Sabrina had started to notice boys sooner than she'd probably have had a crush on Jay. Maybe that's why she liked Puck.

Sabrina was so rudely dragged out of her inner monologue by Colette's shrill scream of- "Sabrina!"

Jay tried to stifle his laughter whilst having Sabrina's infamous death glare inflicted upon him. "As I was saying, You and James are being sent to a home in Hartford, Connecticut."

"Connecticut?" Sabrina asked, caught off guard.

**So I went back and edited this joint so it would be less crappy, and changed a few things.**

***A gambling game where if you roll the dice and get a 7 or 11 you win the pot which each payer contributes to each time they fail to roll a 7 or 11.**


	4. Tri-state Transit

**Yall thought I'd upload sooner, huh? yALl tHoUGhT ! So everything so far been PG, but this is the last chapter of that so if any kids reading this: A fair warning this is not a ****_fairytale_****, no pun intended, but forreal this story will touch on serious topic's and if yall really wanna look back in life and be like "Oh I was corrupted by this fanfiction when I was 10" go head, but don't come up in my reviews and pm's with all that. We clear? Good, now you can read.**

"So, Blondie, where've you been for- how long was it?" Jay smirked at her. They had just barely managed to catch the 1 o'clock to Hartford. Jay was now sitting across from her, and Colette next to him.

"It's been a year and I've been with my grandma… mostly." She replied, thinking back on all that had happened. She wished she could tell him, but she knew that she'd just sound crazy.

"Ah, I'm surprised you lasted that long. What'd you do to get shipped back here, and without Daphne?" He watched her carefully. For how nonchalant the boy acted he paid incredible attention to detail: the way you crossed your arms, the slight quirk of your lips, if you keep eye contact or not- you best believe he'd notice. That was one of the incredible things about him. _An admiral trait, _Sabrina thought.

"Suspensions and threats of a lawsuit. Daphne's better behaved. They thought I wasn't in good care." She bit the last words out, shooting an icy stare at Colette.

The caseworker rolled her eyes: "Listen, kid, I'm just doing my job. Believe me, If I could be on a Tahitian beach getting my feet rubbed by a handsome resort employee then I would be, but sadly I have to work for a living. You'll understand it one day." She pulled out a book titled: _Mafia Love._ Sabrina guessed She, just like Smirt, loved the thrilling romance novel that could kill a camel with the over-done, sappy, cheesy love stories.

_Speaking of Smirt, _Sabrina thought. "Where did Ms. Smirt go?" She asked the boy. They had shared the same caseworker. The infamous- child hating -Ms. Smirt. In fact, this wasn't the first home she had been in with the boy.

The Ross's were the first family they had stayed with together. Recalling it made her nose crinkle. She, Daphne and Jay were responsible for washing the dirty socks and underwear of the Ross's own two entitled and obnoxious children. Her hands smelled like moldy cotton for weeks after they escaped.

"The old hag got fired after she came back from trying to get… _you_." He narrowed his eyes, "Wait, did you have something to do with that?"

"Nope." Sabrina hated to lie, but once again answering truthfully was out of the question. "Why'd she get fired?" She quickly covered.

He leaned his head on his fist and eyed her suspiciously: "She kept on saying she was attacked by a flying boy and a rhino- or something like that. Everyone thought she'd lost it and next thing you know she's in the Octagon*."

Sabrina couldn't help but smirk, Smirt had got what was coming to her. "Can't say

I'm too broken up about that." She deadpanned. She knew Daphne would be ecstatic to know her ingenious plan had worked. Puck would surely get a kick out of it, too.

"How's life been treating you?" She asked, effectively changing the subject.

"Been in and out of homes. Mostly group homes now, though." He said completely expressionless and toneless. She would be lying if she said didn't admire the boy's hard demeanor. Still, Sabrina had been in her fair share of foster homes, and she knew first hand just how hard it was, especially when alone. Guess they were in the same boat now.

He answered the rest of her questions in the same kurt response. Neither of them liked talking about their feelings, so she couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk. The rest of the three hour ride went mostly without talking. Sabrina fell back into her worry as she watched the rolling hills and dead trees pass by in a blur.

Thoughts of Daphne and her parents occupied her thoughts until a hand was stuck in her face. She looked up to see Jay offering to help her up, she took it. She had no ill will towards the kid, and it'd be in her best interest to score in the good books for at least one person. This time around she had no one. Maybe, just maybe, her and Jay could become friends.

Jay and Sabrina pulled their small suitcases out from under their seats and shuffled out onto the platform. "Alright, we have to catch a bus to Hartford… and it leaves in ten minutes." Colette scowled. Sabrina couldn't help but roll her eyes into the back of her head. Colette was worse at planning than Mrs. Smirt. The three started what seemed to be a mad dash to get to the greyhound station that was five blocks down and a block to the right. Colette clearly thought running the six blocks was faster than waiting for the shuttle.

She was sure the woman had broken the world record time for a short distance sprint in high heels. Even if Ms. Colette was a nasty woman Sabrina had to give her props for her determination. She also noticed she barely even broke a sweat; _I guess all the training really did paid off,_ she thought with just a hint of pride.

They arrived just as the bus driver shut the doors. Colette looked like she was about to throw her heel through the window. The driver took the hint and let them on, albeit with a healthy amount of grumbling. All three collapsed into the last three chairs which were all in separate rows. Sabrina just so happened to have the luck of getting the seat next to an overweight man that had the distinct smell of rotten onions.

She looked around the bus to see if there were any other available seats, alas there was not. Jay caught her eye, and smirked in amusement at her unfortunate situation. She shot a glare right back at him, and finally slumped down in her chair in defeat.

The ride was another hour which bumped the ordeal to four hours in all. Once she got off the bus Sabrina sniffed herself to see if the onion smell stuck to her. By the face Jay made she feared it did. "Nah I'm just playing." He grinned. Sadrina scowled.

Ms. Colette smoothed down her pant-suit and took a deep breath. "Okay, now we take a short cab to Ms. Morris's house." She plastered a fake smile that left her makeup creased and caked. They caught a cab, and were across town by the time 6 o'clock rolled around.

The sun was already setting as they stood in front of a ranch style house that was run down and frankly looked as if it were built before the civil war. It was deathly cold outside. The winter air bit at Sabrina's nose causing her to pull up her scarf. Colette pushed the metal wire gate open, and the trio set off across the frozen lawn. Sabrina saw several piles of frozen dog poop. They were pretty big, too, which meant this lady had a big dog. That may cause problems down the road.

Sabrina did a close examination of the outside of the house: The windows were out-dated probably easy to get out of, but rather loud, The front door was slightly lopsided in the frame, it was a simple lock, too. Sabrina determined that it wouldn't be that hard to break out.

It took a while for Ms. Morris to come to the door after Ms. Colette knocked. The woman was all saggy skin and misplaced moles. To Sabrina she looked like a witch, in all honesty she wouldn't be surprised if the lady was. Sabrina suspected that everafters and humans alike could foster children.

Colette pushed both of the children inside. "Say hello to Ms. Morris kids." Colette gave another fake smile, and gave a hard _squeeze_ to each child's shoulder. Neither one said a word. The old lady frowned with an expression more disgusted and hateful than Sabrina could have imagined. Sabrina's stomach dropped, so she was one of _those _foster parents.

***An old- out of ****commission****\- insane asylum in ****Roosevelt**** Island, New York City**


	5. Slap-happy

**And here I was thinking I would drop this damn story and this damn site, but screw it.**

**Warning: Violence and cursing.**

**Shout out to all the people who reviewed this jawn.**

Colette slammed the door in her hurry to leave. The children were now all alone with Ms. Morris. Sabrina took a good look around; dirt and ash caked every corner, grease stains smeared the walls, empty beer cans littered the floor, along with dime bags, it reeked like sweat and mold. _Colette saw all of this and didn't think twice about leaving us here_, Sabrina thought in disgust.

"Don't just stand there. Do some dishes- clean up!" She motioned around the room, "Y'all's some useless kids." The woman snarled. Both Jay and Sabrina stood there like statues.

"Do you even know our names?" Jay asked raising an eyebrow. Ms. Morris's face contorted into a rage filled twist of sagging skin and cold sores. With two efficient strides she crossed the room. The gnarled back of her hand came down, nastily connecting with Sabrina's cheek. The force made her stumble to the side. Before she could regain her senses the woman had already matched Jay with a similar hit.

Sabrina was shocked, she hadn't been hit like that in a long time. The faintest taste of iron was at the back of her throat; bubbling up alongside…_ hatred_. It had been so long since she'd been in a situation like this. To the point where she detached herself from it. She realized that she wasn't used to it, but what made her more angry was that once upon a time she'd _been_ used to it.

She looked over at Jay who was clenching his jaw while simultaneously clenching and unclenching his fist. The old hag had started to scream at them for, God knows what. Sabrina whipped her head toward the woman. All of the anger she had locked away from her time in the system boiled over and she started to shout back. Ms. Morris was little more than an inch away from Sabrina's face. The woman's breath was foul, just like her face, just like her demeanor. She threw her hand with an aim for Sabrina's nose. The girl's left foot slid back, her right meeting it in a heartbeat; easily dodging the blow. The woman lurched forward, but Sabrina spun away at the last minute leaving the hag off balance, making her topple over.

Sabrina would never forget the sound that came clawing out of that woman's throat when she fell. It sounded like she was burning and breaking from the inside out. She thrashed on the ground screaming for help, causing the door at the end of the hall to be flung open. A tall heavy-set man, with anger written into every feature on his face emerged from the room . He looked as if he was capable of murder. _Two peas in a pod_, Sabrina couldn't help thinking as she looked at Mrs. Morris and the strange man.

He charged like a bull toward her. Sabrina ran for the door, but he got to her first. His fist buried itself into her hair, yanking her back. Her scalp burned with the force and tears pricked her eyes. "_The fuck you think you're doing, little bitch!_" He screamed grabbing her face and twisting it toward him. Sabrina thought that he might break her neck, her head was almost 180 degrees to the back. Adrenaline pounded through her brain banishing all thoughts of pain.

She brought her body to be aligned with her skull. Jay came behind the man and kicked his knees out. Both him and Sabrina crashed to the floor. Regaining her composure she climbed to a crouch, the man held fast to her hair, Sabrina twisted the man's arm so that his elbow was pointing up at her. With one desperate stomp she heard a snap. The pressure was released from her head and she stumbled away. She saw him lying on the floor. His arm bent is an unnatural way, she couldn't hear his screams or the womans for that matter. The world had gone eerily silent. Sabrina was completely calm, she knew what had to be done. She grabbed her suitcase, Jay was already headed to the door. He flung the door open; next obstacle was getting to the bus station.

She looked over at Jay: "Run as fast as you can, hop the fence, then run south toward the bus station."

"I ain't dumb." He sneered then took off down the stairs, across the yard, over the Morris's front fence and down the street. Sabrina was relieved that they had not encountered the dog that had left the poop bombs in the front yard.

Jay was less than five feet ahead of her as the open door of Ms. Morris was slowly disappearing. The ground was icy and Sabrina had to devote her full attention to running on it.

That was why she didn't register the cop car that had sped by. Jay did; he yanked her off the sidewalk and towards a backyard. "Get to hopping." He breathed as he leapt onto the frozen fence. Sabrina was thankful that she didn't take her gloves off. She handled it with ease. They had veered way off course and she suspected that they were now traveling east, which was exactly not the way that was going to get them to the bus station.

Jay stopped in the tenth backyard they had hopped into. Sabrina skidded to a halt. The adrenaline had started to wear off and she was breathing heavily. She crouched down next to him, both children were starting to tire. The bitterly cold air had numbed Sabrina's face into rubber.

"When in all hell did you get the balls to break somebody's elbow clean like that?" Jay grinned, amused.

"Well a couple near death experiences and some mixed martial arts contributed to the decision." Sabrina replied flatly. She didn't feel too great about what she had done but it was necessary at the time, plus the man deserved it.

"Shit," Jay rubbed his temple, "we wasn't in that house for more than fifteen minutes and they tried to give us a whoopin."

Sabrina shook her head. "Lucky me." Her whole body was drooping under the weight of her new reality.

"Feeling sorry for yourself ain't gone help jack shit." Jay said, not an ounce of sympathy for Sabrina's situation.

She looked up at him. The boy had his back up against the fence and was squatting down just the same as her. She narrowed her eyes, "Shut it, Jay." She scowled. A smirk spread across his face.

"You know it's true."

"What? Is it illegal to complain now?" She said sourly.

"No, it's just annoying as hell."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. She stood up and dusted herself off: "Well since I believe we're nowhere near the bus station, let's get going. It's gonna be a long night." She stuck out her hand to Jay, pulling him up. He yawned, then proceeded to start Olympic grade stretches.

"I don't know what track meet you're warming up for but we got a bus to catch."

"You know stretching makes everything easier, right? Do it and you won't be sore tomorrow. You don't have to rush everything." Sabrina scrunched up her face in a mix of confusion and disbelief. _Is this kid serious?_ She thought. Her head was starting to hurt.

"Oh my bad, you're right I shouldn't rush you. It's not like we're slowly freezing to death and homeless."

"And stretching will help us _not_ freeze to death."

"Will it? Even if it did stretching isn't going to put a roof over our head or food in our stomach." Saying that only served as a reminder that she no longer had a safety net. She was the only person she _could_ depend on. Her stomach twisted itself into a nice pretty bow at this thought.

Her rib cage felt like it was supporting a thousand pounds. She could barely breathe. Her hands started to shake. She felt a cold sweat pool on her brow. She turned to the nearest bush and proceeded to throw up. Since she hadn't eaten anything all day her barf consisted of bile and water.

Jay raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Sabrina knew her face was beat red and her eyes were watering. He took a water bottle out of his backpack and handed it to her: "You best waterfall that. I don't want to be drinking no type of throw up."

She nodded to him graciously. She drank like she hadn't had water in years. Sabrina could still taste the vomit in the back of her throat. After she drank half the bottle she felt the pounding of her head recede just a little.

"Let's go." She croaked horsley. She started to circle around the edge of the yard. Sabrina tiptoed to the gate to the street, Jay following close behind. The hinges painfully creaked when she pushed the door open. Pulling Jay through, she tried walking as fast and as natural as two tweens emerging from a stranger's backyard possibly could.

They walked in silence as they wound through the rundown outskirts of Hartford. Sabrina didn't know how much time had passed when they came to a stop in front of a very old _Murphy's: Gas for Less!_ The gas station looked like it was from a 50's sitcom if a bit dirtier.

"The lights are on. That's a good sign." Sabrina shrugged. At this point she wouldn't complain about finding a rock to sleep under. The Murphy's probably had better heating anyway. She walked to the glass door; she could see an acne-faced teenager rotating the hotdogs in the display case, but besides that the store was empty.

The children opened the door to be hit with a wall of warmth. Sabrina thought that she may have to get her toes amputated from frostbite they were so cold. She stood by the door for a moment thankful to be out of the cold. Jay had already made his way up to the counter.

"What time is it?" Jay asked the cashier.

"8:04." The boy replied. It was clear the employee didn't care for them in the store. Sabrina took that back he didn't care for the _store_, in general. She joined Jay at the counter.

"Could you tell me how to get to the bus station from here? The greyhound station." Jay quipped.

"Yeah… you go up Tunxis Rd. Then make a left onto Sedgwick Rd. Then take a left then right on Boulevard which turns into Capitol Ave. keep going straight left at the state capitol cut through the park and you're there."

Jay nodded: "How long do you think it would take for us to walk?" The boy looked at Jay like he'd grown another eye.

"That'd be crazy, it's two hours at least. It's twenty five degrees outside. You two are kids."

"Good looks." Jay threw over his shoulder as he walked off. The teenager gave her a half hearted look, Sabrina shrugged and pushed off the counter to meander around the store. She went down the aisle that had more instant ramen than she'd ever thought was sellable. The rumbling of her stomach came back with a vengeance. She _needed_ to eat… but she had no money… but she needed food. Jay sidled up the aisle interrupting her debate. He drew close to her, leaning into her enough that she could hear his breathing.

"Take anything you can get away with. Be sly, though. We don't want trouble if we can help it." He said quiet as a mouse. Sabrina gave him an almost undetectable nod. Jay had made the decision for her. Sabrina grabbed five instant ramen packs, but being as sneaky as she was she made it look like she only grabbed two. Sabrina scanned the ceiling and corners for cameras; there was a camera in the far right corner as well as the corner closest to the door. They recorded almost all of the store except for a small window in the back left of the store. The cashier didn't seem to notice that she had circled to the back.

Sabrina slipped the packs into her suitcase. Jay, on the other hand, was just shoving things in his bag in the shadow of a rack of chips. The teen didn't seem to care either way. Still Sabrina wanted to be as sneaky as possible. They both continued swiping food for another 10 minutes. Sabrina hovered behind Jay as he stuffed another Milky Way down his pants.

"We should go now." She saw that the boy up front had started to pay attention to them. "Come on grab something to buy. Make it cheap, too." Jay pursed his lips and lifted his eyebrows as if to say _oops!_ His face then fell back into an easy going smile. He nodded to the front: "Let's go then."

They bought a couple slim Jim's and water for Sabrina. The grand total was $3.88, Sabrina produced a five dollar bill. It was from the meager reserve she'd built up from allowances. The cashier looked at them suspiciously, but didn't say a word. Once they were a safe distance from the gas station Jay broke down laughing.

"Did you see him? Bro did not care. We coulda stole half the damn store and he wouldn't do shit." He practically yelled. Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"This time we were lucky that the kid didn't care if he was being robbed blind, but that won't happen again. Remember when we were living out of _Safe Horizon_*, it was a block down from the bodega. The owner chased you and Rico four blocks with a .22." She glared at him. The kid had let a few too many clean get always go to his head. He grinned even wider: "Guess what? I'm still alive, ain't I?" Jay was so profoundly cocky that Sabrina may have equated it to self delusion. She didn't reply, just kept walking.

They were headed along Capitol Ave, which was a fairly busy street. Sabrina had kept her mind occupied by counting the cars that had passed them. Thirty two had, to be exact.

"I got you on the next one" Jay's voice broke the silence.

"Huh?" Was all Sabrina could draw up.

"For the food, dummy." He said nudging her with his shoulder.

"Oh what, you got all $3.88 on the next one?" She said sarcastically. She looked at him from the corner of her eye: "Don't worry about it." She pushed her curly blonde hair back behind her ear. Refocusing her eyes on the road in front of them.

After about an hour of Jay playing chicken, and Sabrina restraining the urge to clobber him, with a few death threats sprinkled in, they arrived at an old brown stone building with a huge lot of buses in the back. Sabrina approached the glass doors, _Business Hours: 5:45am- 10:30pm_. She didn't know what time it was, but the place looked open. She tugged open the door. Relishing the warmth, she slowly walked to the counter. A tired man in his late twenties eyed the children.

Sabrina stepped up to the counter. She made it a point to look as innocent as possible: "Hi, I was wondering when the next bus to New York City leaves?" She asked.

"You look a little young to be trying to catch a bus after 10pm. Where are your parents?" He questioned. He looked at the children as if he was on to the huge money making scheme that they had concocted.

"Oh, our Mom is at the grocery store right next to here. She told us to run in here really quick to see when the bus came so we would have to worry about missing it tomorrow."

He sighed, resigned: "The bus comes at 8am sharp tomorrow morning. Would your Mom like to come in here and purchase tickets?"

"Thank you, we'll let her know!" Sabrina grinned, turned on her heel and left.

"Let's go to that _grocery store_ to go let _M__om_ know that the bus comes at 8." Jay mocked. She glared at him.

"What? It was a pretty seamless lie. We got the information we needed without getting the cops called."

"It was pretty good, huh."

*** A homeless shelter in Harlem.**


End file.
